Orbital movement dasher



April 28, 1953 J. A. CASTRICONE ORBITAL MOVEMENT DASHER Filed May 15,1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

April 28, 1953 J. A. CASTRICONE 2,636,374

ORBITAL MOVEMENT DASHER Filed May 15, 1947 v3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTOR.

(Lin Q. 522352; 60229 April 28, 1953 J. A. CASTRICONE ORBITAL MOVEMENTDSHER 3 Sheets-Shet 5 Filed May 15, 1947 I N V EN TOR. oizz Qflas'izz'cozze Patented Apr. 28, 1953 2,636,374 ORBITAL MOVEMENT DASHERJohn A.; Castricone, Peoria, 111., assignor to Altorfer Bros. Company,Peoria, 111., a. corporation ofIllinois Application May 15, 1947, SerialNo. 748,326

4 Claims. (C1. 68-134) 'This invention relates to dashers for washingmachines and particularly to dashers mounted for orbital rotationwithout substantial axial rotation within a washing machine tub. It is acontinuation-in-part of my prior application Serial No. 691,688, filedAugust 20, 1946, now

Patent 'No. 2,535,390, granted December 26, 1950, which application inturn was a continuation-inpart of my application Serial No. 647,565,filed issued February Machine.

Although the 'dashers of the current application were generallydescribed and claimed as elements of the washing machine combination-thedetails, specific functions and structures of'the dashers'best adaptedto this specific type of washing machine were not fully disclosed,described and claimed.

It is the particular object ofthepresent invention to provide aneffective dasher for washing machines employing orbital movementmechanism for rotating the dasher within the tub but without substantialaxial rotation of the dasher. Another object is to provide optimumstructure 25, 1947, for Clothes Washin February 14, 1946, now my PatentNo. 2,416,611,

for orbital movement dashers to accomplish effective scrubbing andflushingaction uniformly onfall size batches of clothes ranging fromminimum'to maximum size batches. 1

Another object is to provide an'orbital movement'dasher that willdistribute the'clothes' uniformly around the tub in'a ring and preventbunching of clothes. A furtherobject is to provide a dasher which willeffect light scrubbing action over the comrow surface contact with theedges of the vanes. A further object is to provide a dasherwhich withits light scrubbing action and contact on the surface of the clotheswill cause the ring of plete surface of the clothes in the batch bynarclothes to be axially rotated within the tub by l the orbitalmovement of the dasher and thus present the entire surface of the batchof clothes thus formed in a ring. to'the scrubbing action of the dashervanes.v

And a further objectis -to provide a dasher whichwill effect flushingactionin addition to -the scrubbing action by means of ejectedwatercurrents through holes in the body of the dasher.

Other objects and benefits will be disclosed in the followingdescription and drawings in which; Fig. 1 is a broken elevational viewpartly in section to disclose the dasher and its action on the clothesas it moves in its orbital pathjwithin t N Q Fig. 2 is a top planviewoiapreferred form of 2 my dasher showing the arrangement of the vanes andthe holes in the body of the dasher;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional elevational view of the dasher shown in Fig.2;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are half cross sectional elevational views of differentforms of dashers as will later to be explained and discussed; and Fig. 7is a top plan view of a preferred form of dasher showing in solid linesthe contact of the clothes with the edges of the dasher vanes as willlater be explained.

Now referring to the drawings and at the outset to Fig. 1, I show apreferred form of my dasher 10 in full outline as it would appear inposition on the right side of the tub during its orbital movement and indotted outline H as it would appear on the opposite side of the tubduring its orbital movement. The tub 12 with its Water line l3 as theyappear in cross section clearly disclose that the overall crosssectional area of the dasher 10 including its vanes is a substantialproportion of the entire cross sectional area of the tub below the waterline 13, and that the enclosed body of the dasher represents a largepercentage of the cross sectional area. The volumetric displacement ofthe dasher in proportion to the wash water in the tub ranges from eightto twenty per cent and. varies with the speed of rotatio of the dasher.It will thus be appreciated that when the dasher H1 is rotated orbitallywithin the tub, that the cross sectional areas or volumetric capacitytotal available for clothes are the areas 15 and 16 as shown in crosssection. When the dasher ll! moves-to its opposite orbital positionshown in dotted outline II the cross sectional areas 15 and 16- arereversed as shown in the oppositely cross hatched area 11 to the left ofthe dasher. The dasher is rotated unidirectionally at a relatively highspeed as fully disclosed and discussed in my prior Patent No. 2,4 6,611,above referred to by the belt and pulley mechanism i9 driven by theelectric motor 18. As shown in- Fig.3, the dasher 10 comprises a bodyhaving a conical upper portion with a conical lower portion taperedoutwardly at an angle of approximately 45 to the longitudinal axis ofthe and disclosed in my prior patent, No. 2,416,611.

whichorives "the dasher lb in an orbital path 3 without substantialrotation within the tub 12. On the body of the dasher ill, the holes 2|extend completely through the section to provide waterways between theoutside and inside of the dasher body. It will readily be appreciatedthat as the dasher is moved rapidly in its orbital path, water will beejected through the holes 2i. On the body of the dasher is are slit highvanes 23 and six low vanes 25 alternating therewith and uniformlydistributed in a radial manner over the entire surface of the body 29.It will readily be appreciated that the vanes are much more closelyspaced than is customary in the conventional agitator of thereciprocating agitator machine now popular on the market. As a matter offact, most agitators of such machines have three vanes although there isa considerable portion that have four vanes. Naturally, as suchagitators are reciprocated in axial rotation, the clothes ride on andbetween the vanes thus to be axially rotated or reciprccated to and frocausing a relative axial movement between the clothes and water.Contrary to this theory of washing action, the vanes on my dasher varyfrom one and a half to four inch axial spacing and as shown in thispreferred embodiment of dasher, this twelve inch dasher has twelveradial vanes. Depending on the diameter or the dasher, the number ofvanes may vary from 6 to 16 but must be arranged to hold the clothesaway from the body of the dasher in order to provide necessary waterpassageways.

It will be clearly noted that the high vanes 23 have inclined edgeswhich for the major portion closely approximate the vertical. Thisextreme angle of inclination is designed to prevent clothes fromstopping or sticking as they move downwardly over theoutersurfaoe of thedasher. The lower vanes 2 located intermediate of the high vanes 23 havea slightly less vertical inclination and do not extendas high as thevanes 23 for the purpose which will later be explained.

Now referring to Figs; 1 2 and 3, it will be observed that theeccentricity of the drive member 22 attaches to the dasher It on aneccentric radius R from the center of the main drive shaft. It will alsobe appreciated that the driving mechanism 22 moves the dasher ID on theradius R without substantial axial rotation.

Now referring to Fig. 2, it will be appreciated that the edge of eachvane '23 (as well as every other point on the dasher) will reciprocateback and forth on the radius R or the diameter D thus clearly shown inFig. 2. Thus every point of the dasher and particularlyall edges of allthe vanes of the 'dasher will be reciprocated back and, forth in arotary reciprocating movement indicated by the diameter D. Thus, thedoughnut- 'lilre vring or clothes surrounding the dasher will beexpanded and contracted at all pointswithin the inner area of thedoughnut as clearly shown by the difference between the cross sections-!6 which represents :a compression and expansion of all sections oi thedoughnut amountin to the differential section area I t. It will furtherbe appreciated that every vane on the outside circumference of thedasher l0 will berecipr'ocated backward and forward and sidewise in alldirections through a circle as represen'ted'by the arrowed diameter D.This rotating motion of the vanes of the dasher It will impsi a toroidalflow of water currents downwardly toward the bottom of the dasher, thenoutwardly and upwardly and inwardly at the top.

1 Now again referring to Eig L-itwill beobyiou's that because of theconical shape of the dasher, the bottom edges of the doughnut of clotheswill be compressed and forced outwardly which will mechanically effectan axial rotation of the doughnut outwardly and upwardly then inwardlyassisted by toroidal water-flow as clearly shown by the direction arrowsin the cross sections I5 and [6.

Thus by a combination of a relatively minor toroidal flow of waterinduced by the water action of the vanes 23 and 24, and the mechanicalpushing action of the dasher ill on the inside bottom sections of thedoughnut of clothes, the clothes will be rotated outwardly at thebottom, upwardly at the sides, and inwardly at the top to continuouslyrotate the doughnut of clothes axiauy within the tub. Further, by theunidirectional rotation of the dasher as shown by the arrow on thecircle having the diameter D, a minor turning force of counterclockwiserotation will rs'ul't'i'r'i moving the doughnut or clothes slowly aroundthe tub in a counterclockwise direction. see arrow '2? in Fig. '7.

7 Now referring to Fig. 7, and appreciating that the clothes are beingrotated as indicated by the arrows in Fig. l, the inner surface of thedoughnut of clothes surrounding the dasher will be looped over the fullvanes l-V, "3-V, 5- 95, 7 V, 9 V and V as clearly shown in Fig. whenthey contact the upper section or the dasher at -25 as shown in Fig. '3.As the clothes move downwardly to the position 26-2 6 as shown in 'Fig.3, the shorter vanes 23 will then contact the clothes and the clot heswill then wrap over the vanes 2 V, l-V, 6 V, 8-1 Ill-V and l'2-V asshown in Fig. *7. Thus, as the clothes move downward the rollingrotating action of the axially rotating doughnut of clothes as shown insections I5 and It of Fig- '1, will rub the clothes by wrapping contactover the edges of the vanes. "This rubbing action will occur over theentire inner surface of the doughnut as the clothes are rotatedclockwise as shown by the arrows 27 in Fig. *7. Further, the entireinterior section of the doughnut of clothes as they contact the vaneswill be flexed as roughly indicated by the scalloped lines S-Sindicating the shape oi the clothes on the interior of the doughnut andfurther as "the clothes are rotated clockwise as indicated by the arrow2 the En? tire interior section of the doughnut will be flexed instepped sections as the clothes rotate clockwise in accordance with thearrow 27.

Further, at the 'point ZB at the "right hand side of the dasher It theclothes will be compressed as they are urged upwardly as shown by thearrows '29. when they reach the top adjacent the water line at T4 theclothes will be expanded as indicated by the increased dimension whenthe dasher H! is in the position shown in Fig. 1. On the opposite sideof the dasher the areas 28 and 30 will be expanded proportionately tothe dimensions 3| and 32. Thus the cross sectional area or the doughnutof clothes will be expanded on the opposite side of the flasher T0 tothe extent shown by the (inferential cross sectional areas '11 at theleft hand side of the dasher It asshown in Fig. '1. r

From the'ioregoing, it will be appreciated that he clothes areprogressively rubbed as they are rotated downwardly over the dasher,then they are compressed at the bottom of the dasher as they are forcedupwardly and then permitted to expand and again moved inwardly intoconfa was new e a e- Now referring to Figs. 4, 5 and 6, I show differentforms of dasherswherein the body' of the dasher is formed in variousways but generally tapered upwardly. However, the outer edges of thelonger vanes 23 with edges 33, 34 and 35 are of a steep pitch closelyapproximating the vertical so that the downwardly moving clothes fromthe interior of the doughnut are exposed to. a minimum of friction thuspermitting the free rolling axial rotation of the clothes within thedoughnut as previously described. Again referring to Fig. '7, andparticularly to the wrapping contacts of the clothes around the vanes asshown by the scalloped lines S it will be appreciated that the contactof the clothes with the'vanes is only on the narrow outer edges of .thevanes. This results in a narrow polished edge surface of the vanes asshown by the areas 36, 31 and 38 in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 respectively. Asimilar polished edge condition of the shorter vanes 24 has been noted.From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that regardlessof the detailed shape of the body of the agitator (other than generallytapered upwardly) as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. when the body of thedasher is effectively covered by steep vanes to prevent clothes contactwith the body of the dasher and permit water circulation between theclothes and dasher, effective washing results are accomplished.

The holes 2| through the body of the dasher permit jets of water to beejected as the dasher is rapidly moved in its orbital path. These waterjets not only assist the toroidal rotation of the clothes within thetub, but effectively augment the washing action by progressivelyflushing the clothes as they are frictionallyratcheted downwardly overthe dasher vanes.

Although I have shown the vanes on my dasher as vertical in allinstances, I desire to explain and teach that angular or spiral vanesmay be used when it is desirable. Such angular or spiral vanes willincrease or decrease the rotation of the clothes around the tub as shownby the arrow 27 in Fig. 7, depending on the relation of the angularityof the vanes to the direction of rotation of the dasher.

In the foregoing descriptions I have dealt with preferred forms of theinvention employing a dasher having a hollow central body portion. Inthese preferred forms of mechanism the dasher drive involves a centerpost rotatably supporting a drive shaft with a crank and means tosupport the dasher on the center post for orbital movement withoutsubstantial axial rotation. It is obvious that with such drivingstructure the hollow central body portion is structurally necessary.

What I claim is:

1. A dasher for a clothes washing machine adapted for orbital movementin washing action, said dasher comprising a substantially cylindricalbase portion of appreciable height with a substantially conical upperportion rigid therewith, said base portion having a top surface taperinginwardly to the upper portion at a substantial angle thereto, said upperportion being appreciably reduced relative to said base portion, andvanes spaced at intervals around said upper portion and extendingdownwardly thereon substantially to the base portion, said vanes havinginwardly inclined outer edges, and auxiliary vanes interposed betweenthe first-mentioned vanes and extending inwardly along said top surfaceto the upper portion, said auxiliary vanes having. upper edgesinclined.upwardlyandlinwardly substantially in one direction throughoutthe length thereof.

2. A dasher fora clothes washingmachine adapted for orbital movement inwashingaction, said dasher being hollow and having a substantiallyconical upper portion and a sloping lower portion extending downwardlyand. outwardly therefrom, main vanes projecting laterally from the upperand lower portions and extending upwardly therealong, and auxiliaryvanes interposed between the main vanes and extending inwardly alongsaid sloping lower portion to the upper portion, said auxiliary vaneshaving upper edges inclined upwardly and inwardly substantially in onedirection throughout the length thereof, said upper portion and slopinglower portion having holes therethrough between the vanes and atvertically spaced points for ejecting water therethrough from within thedasher upon orbital movement thereof.

3. A dasher for a clothes washing machine adapted for orbital movementin washing action, said dasher being hollow and having an open lowerend, said dasher having a substantially conical upper portion and anoutwardly flaring lower portion tapering at an angle of approximately 45to the longitudinal axis of said dasher, said lower portion having adown-turned rim thereon at its periphery, upright main vanes extendingupwardly along the upper and lower portions and spaced apartcircumferentially of the dasher appreciably less than from each other,each of said main vanes having an inwardly inclined outer edge,auxiliary vanes interposed between the main vanes and extending inwardlyalong said sloping lower portion from the outer edge thereof to theupper portion, said auxiliary vanes having upper edges inclined upwardlyand inwardly substantially in one direction throughout the lengththereof, said upper portion and sloping lower portion having amultiplicity of holes therethrough spaced at intervals along the lengththereof and spaced apart transversely between the vanes for ejectingwater therethrough from within the dasher upon orbital movement thereof.

4. A dasher for a clothes washing machine adapted for orbital movementin washing action, said dasher comprising a substantially cylindricalbase portion of appreciable height with a substantially conical upperportion rigid therewith, said base portion having a top surface taperinginwardly to the upper portion at a substantial angle thereto, said upperportion being appreciably reduced relative to said base portion, andvane spaced at intervals around said upper portion and extendingdownwardly thereon substantially to the base portion, said vanes havinginwardly inclined outer edges, and auxiliary vanes interposed betweenthe first-mentioned vanes and extending inwardly along said top surfaceto the upper portion, said auxiliary vanes having upper edges inclinedupwardly and inwardly substantially in one direction throughout thelength thereof, said conical upper portion and the top JOHN A.CASTRICONE.

(References on following page) 'ffleterencns Cited in the file at thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Dehle Apr. 2, 1935 FedlerJan. 4, 1927 Joseph Mar. 25, 1930 Geldhof Dec. 5, 1933 Maus Nov, 12,1935 8 Name Date. Geldhof July 27, 1937 Waterwm-th Aug. 31, 1937 KirbyJan. 11, 1938 Faber Mar. 8, 1938 Jackson Dec. 6; 1938 Rocke May .2, 1939Janda May 23. i989 Castricone Feb. 25, 19491

